Details of Thesis

Sacred or Profane: The
Influence of Vatican Legislation on Music in the Catholic Archdiocese of
Melbourne, 1843 - 1938

Author

Byrne, John
Henry

Institution

Australian Catholic University

Date

2005

Abstract

Despite the
authoritative and very explicit directions from the Vatican in 1903, the
Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne successfully resisted the demands for
a major reform of liturgical Church music for 35 years. This thesis will
examine the reasons for this strong and effective resistance to the
demands of the Holy See and show that despite being complex and
interrelated these reasons can be summarised under two fundamental
headings. The thesis will examine the broad spectrum of music performed
in the Melbourne Archdiocese, but because of the limited availability of
information and the prime importance of the two principal churches of
the Archdiocese, it shall concentrate on St. Patrick’s Cathedral and on
St. Francis Church. The thesis shall also examine in detail the
documents of the Holy See concerning liturgical music which were
relevant to musical practice in Melbourne. Special attention is drawn to
the influential Motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini (1903) issued
by Pope Pius X. The time span of this thesis covers the 95 years from
March 1843 when the first music was sung in Melbourne’s only Catholic
church to 1938 when Archbishop Daniel Mannix ordered the reforms to
liturgical music as demanded by the Vatican. The thesis shall
demonstrate that the resistance to the reform of liturgical music in the
Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne was due to the two following
influences: the fact that the new freedom and wealth that the immigrant
Irish community of the Archdiocese of Melbourne experienced enabled them
to establish churches and liturgies whose grandeur and artistic
excellence symbolized their success in establishing a major new social
and cultural status in their new home. Church music was one of the great
manifestations of this and as an integral part of their new significance
and sense of achievement, it was to be jealously guarded. the second was
the matter of authority and the independence of the Catholic bishops
from the dictates and interference of the Vatican authorities. These
Irish-born bishops were trained in an historical milieu in Ireland and
Europe which fostered a fierce pride in the value of autonomy from
external and alien authority. In this they were given a great degree of
protection by the isolation of Australia and its distance from outside
authority. In this Archbishops Carr and Mannix both proved to be
strongly independent leaders who proved to be most reluctant to
automatically implement reforms imposed by the Vatican. It will be shown
that only in the fourth decade of the twentieth century was Episcopal
authority finally brought to bear to make reforms to liturgical music a
reality in the Catholic Church in Melbourne.